Strawberry Pancakes

It was a Sunday well spent catering to the needs of my little ones. My better half was out on work and I was Daddy Day Care for the day. Right from cooking breakfast to a lava cake for dessert and some games in between, the day just flew.  Pancakes it was going to be and after much thinking Strawberry Pancakes it was ( the box in the fridge had a lot to play in the decision making). 

They are extremely easy to make and if you are willing to play with various toppings like strawberry sauce, maple syrup, chocolate sauce, some sprinkles they are going to be a show stealer for the little ones.

Strawberry Pancakes

Makes - 8 Pancakes (3-in diameter)

Ingredients

Flour, All-purpose - 150 gm
Sugar - 2 Tblsp
Baking Powder - 2 Tsp
Egg - 1
Milk - 1 Cup (240 ml)
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Vanilla Essence - 1 Tsp
Strawberries, chopped - 2 Cups
Strawberries, sliced - 2 (For garnish)
Maple Syrup - For topping
Butter, melted - 1 Tblsp
Butter - for making pancakes and topping

Method:
The Batter:
1. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and vanilla essence.
3. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Add in the melted butter.
4. Whisk the batter well to ensure there are no lumps and it is smooth and thick.
5. Fold in the chopped strawberries.

Making the Pancakes:
1. Heat a non-stick skillet/griddle. Add in a tsp of butter and rotate to coat the skillet/griddle.
2. Spoon the batter onto the skillet/griddle (1/4 of a cup).
3. Cook till pancakes start to turn bubbly on top and appear set. (2-3 minutes)
4. Flip them around with a spatula and cook on other side for 2 minutes.
5. Remove to a plate. Repeat again with another spoonful till all batter is used up or you have made the number you require.
NOTE : Keep buttering the skillet as necessary.
Keep pancakes warm as you remove them by either storing them in a casserole or a warm cloth.
6. Serve warm with softened butter and maple syrup on top.

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A Berry Healthy Breakfast Smoothie

After a very long time, I post something potable on this blog. My weekdays have again become the gruelling battles to attain metrics. Exercising with this schedule becomes a distant reality and a round of golf a weekend luxury, something sacrificed to rest the overworked body. Atleast we can eat healthy. Since, Lunch and Dinners are an indulgence for me, Breakfast are where I like to make up for all this. Maybe too little at this stage, but a start is a start.

Smoothies first hit the US market in the 1960's with the advent of the health industry and vegetarianism. But the smoothies of that time differ from the smoothies of today in terms of the fact that the old days smoothies contained only Fruit Juice, fruits & ice. Today's versions have milk ice or frozen yogurt added to them.

Incase you want to dig in more into the history of the smoothie or how they have evolved over the years read this or my favorite wikipedia thread.

This also happens to be my entry to Mansi's WBB Balanced Breakfast event. it is the 20th edition of the WBB ( which stands for Weekend Breakfast Blogger's ), so I didn't want to miss out on it, plus I had given a commitment to Mansi that I would surely send in a contribution (Srivalli, yours is in the works) ...read more on WBB Balanced Breakfasts on Mansi's blog .

Ingredients:

2 Cups Strawberries
1 Cup Plain Yogurt
1/2 Cup Milk
1 Tblsp Honey

Method:
1. Wash and cut strawberry tops .
2. Put all ingredients in a blender.
3. Blend & drink to your health. (Garnish with a sliced Strawberry)

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